| The Wisconsin River |
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The Wisconsin River The Wisconsin River is one of the most interesting and unique rivers in the world. Formed over 10,000 years ago, the structure and usage of the river has changed dramatically over time. What was once a highway for Native Americans is now referred to as the hardest working river in the nation. Geography of the River The Wisconsin River is approximately 430 miles long. It starts at Lac Vieux Desert in northern Wisconsin on the Wisconsin/Michigan border. It ends at Prairie du Chien where it empties into the Mississippi River. The Wisconsin River Basin covers 12,280 sq. miles or 1/5 of the state. It includes all or part of 25 counties. A river basin is the land area along the river from which rain would run off into the river. The river drops 1,067 feet from its origin to where it joins the Mississippi. It drops from 1,680 feet above sea level to about 610 feet above sea level. Compare this to the Mississippi, which drops about 600 feet from Prairie du Chien to New Orleans. This steep drop makes it a good source of hydroelectric power. "The Wisconsin is divided into three sections: the upper, middle, and lower rivers." (Stark, 88) The upper river extends from Lac Vieux Desert downstream to Plover. The original land characteristics of the river were forest and swamp. The far upper river was and is now narrow, winding and relatively flat. The rest of the upper river is very steep and had many rapids and small waterfalls. In this part of the upper river many power dams were built in the early 1900's and many cities developed along this section of the river because of the dams. The upper river today is utilized for forestry and recreation. The middle river runs from Plover to the Wisconsin Dells. The original land characteristic of this portion of the river was plains or flat land known as the Wisconsin Central Plain. Today it is much the same and is utilized for farming. The river is much flatter and wider in this area. The lower river runs from the Wisconsin Dells to Prairie du Chien. The lower portion of the river runs almost due west, unlike the rest of the river that runs from north to south. At Portage the river turns to the West. The land characteristic of this portion of the river is steep hills and bluffs. This is called the driftless area of Wisconsin. This is where the glaciers stopped and deposited all of the rock and dirt that it pushed off of Northern Wisconsin. The lower river is very wide with many sandbars. Primary use of that area today is farming and recreation. One interesting geologic feature of the Wisconsin River is the Wisconsin Dells. Its sandstone banks were formed over 500 million years ago from sands of an ancient sea. "As the last glacier melted it gradually formed glacial Lake Wisconsin, about the size of the present Great Salt Lake." (Wisconsin Ducks Inc.) About 14,000 years ago the ice dam that formed this lake melted and released a giant flood that cut the river channel through the sandstone forming the Wisconsin Dells. Tributaries of the Wisconsin River There are nine major tributaries that run into the Wisconsin River. They are the Tomahawk, Rib, Eau Claire, Big Eau Pleine, Yellow, Lemonweir, Baraboo, Pine, and Kickapoo Rivers. In addition there are about 390 smaller rivers or streams that run into the Wisconsin River. Early Explores and Missionaries There is much controversy as to who was the first European to explore the Wisconsin River. Some of the early explorers of the Wisconsin River include Father Jacques Marquette, Lewis Jolliet, Jean Nicolet, Father Rene Menard, Father Claude Jean Allouez, Daniel Grayslon Duluth and Nicolas Perrot. We know that exploration took place in the 1600's but reports differ on who was the actual first explorer. Nicolas Perrot established the first white settlement at the mouth of the Wisconsin in 1685. It was called Fort St. Nicolas. This is now known as Prairie du Chien. There were many different names for the Wisconsin River. The Indian name for the river was the Meskonsing as interpreted by Father Marquette. Father Hennepin interpreted the Indian pronunciation as Ouisconsin. There are also at least four different interpretations of what the Indian name meant. They were Wild Rushing Water, Red Cliff, River of a Thousands Isles and what most people believe to be the most credible one; Gathering of Waters Improvements on the River Many reservoirs and dams were developed on the Wisconsin River. Logging dams were built in the 1880's and hydroelectric dams and reservoir dams were built starting in the early 1900's. By 1935, twenty-one reservoir dams were built on the upper end of the river. Altogether 26 hydroelectric dams were built. The last one was built in the early 1950's Hydropower is a very important source of power in Wisconsin. In Wisconsin hydropower provides 4.4% of our electric energy needs. Hydropower production in Wisconsin is about 2.1 billion kilowatt-hours per year. This is enough to provide the residential needs of 650,000 people. Hydropower is produced for less than 1 cent per kilowatt-hour. This is about one half the cost of nuclear power and one-third the cost of fossil fuel. The first hydropower plant in the US was built in Appleton in 1882. The first hydropower plant was built on the Wisconsin River at Merrill only 4 years later in 1886. Hydropower in Wisconsin also reduced America's dependence on unstable foreign energy sources. Lakes Created by Dams on the Wisconsin River There are many man-made reservoirs on the Wisconsin River. Some of them are Rainbow, Willow, Spirit, Big Eau Pleine, Petenwell, and Castle Rock reservoirs. There are also many man-made lakes on the Wisconsin River. Some of them are Lake Nokomis, Eagle Chain of Lakes, Lake Mohawksin, Lake Alexander, Lake Wausau, Lake Dubay, and Lake Wisconsin. These are just the major man-made lakes and reservoirs. Altogether there are over forty-seven man-made lakes and reservoirs. Recreation on the Wisconsin River Recreation was created on the Wisconsin River by dams and reservoirs being built creating man made lakes. Reservoirs formed by hydroelectric dams provide many water-based opportunities including fishing, water sports, boating, and waterfowl hunting. The Wisconsin Dells is one of the largest tourist attractions on the river. Much of this would not have occurred without the building of the dams in that area. The Wisconsin River also includes a world-class kayak course and competition in downtown Wausau. The amount of water going through the course is regulated by the Wausau Hydroelectric Dam. Industry on the Wisconsin River Loggers and sawmill builders came in the 1830's. They used the river to transport logs from the northern forests to sawmills in Merrill, Wausau, Mosinee and Stevens Point. In about 1905 industrialists took an interest in what they called "white coal", or hydroelectric power. Referring to the Wisconsin River, Rhinelander papermaker John Barnes said, "We have the greatest water power in the United States. There is power enough in the Wisconsin River to turn a thousand mill wheels." The hydropower was used to power many paper mills, which is still true today. Today hydropower is still used to power the following paper mills on the river; Rhinelander Paper Co. in Rhinelander, Packaging Corp. of America in Tomahawk, Wausau Papers in Brokaw, Weyerhaeuser Papers in Rothschild, Mosinee Papers in Mosinee, Stora Enso (Consolidated Papers) in Stevens Point, Whiting, Biron, and Wisconsin Rapids, and Georgia Pacific in Nekoosa and Port Edwards. Hydropower still proves to be the most economical and practical way to provide power. While the Wisconsin River has changed over time it remains one of the state’s most important natural resources. In the future it will remain a major source of recreation, industry, and hydroelectric power. This is why it is called the "hardest working river in the nation." Wisconsin River Pictures
Bibliography Derleth, August (1985) River of a Thousand Isles. Madison Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. |
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